I have to finally admit it.  I am a techno geek.  As a former athlete who would have been in the “jock” crowd vs. the “nerd ” crowd in my past this is a little hard to admit.  The fact is though is that I love technology and especially gadgets.  In fact, I am typing this blog from my new Blackberry Playbook.

The good news is that I know I am not alone, especially in the insurance industry.  Cell phones and especially smart phones have become a way of life. I attend educational and company seminars regularly with other insurance agents and am amazed at how much agents are connected with their phones.

The scene at one of these seminars usually looks like this.  You put a bunch of Type A personalities in one room and tell them to to sit still and be quiet for an hour.  The speaker then tells all of the salivating agents that we are taking a ten minute break.  The doors open and the agents stampede out the door clutching their smart phones.  The next ten minutes (more like 15) consist of agents checking voice mails, e-mails, texting, etc.

The point of all this is that insurance agents no longer need an office to conduct business to serve and communicate with their clients.  I am not saying that an office not necessary at all, but that everything done in the office can now be done from home,  a car, coffee shop, or your clients home or office.

With a smart phone, laptop or tablet, and a portable printer, agents can have a virtual office where ever they go.  This allows us to get out and see our prospects and customers regularly (which what we should be doing) without the burden of having to into the office regularly to “check in”. 

I love the fact that I can communicate by phone, e-mail, text, tweet, Facebook chat, Skype, instant message, or other forms of communication without leaving my home or car.  I love face to face interaction and some people feel that technology is taking away from this type of interaction.  I disagree.  I think technology has freed us up allowing for even more face to face communication.

What are your thoughts about leveraging technology?   I would love to hear your experiences in using technology in your business.